The hamstring Kohli picked up in the IPL 2026 final has done more than rule him out of three ODIs against Afghanistan; it has handed Yashasvi Jaiswal the most consequential opportunity of his white-ball career. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar confirmed the injury at a BCCI press conference in Mumbai on June 6, with no firm return date and only a cautious suggestion that Kohli might be available for the England series starting July 14. That uncertainty is Jaiswal’s window, and the next three weeks will determine how far he walks through it.
Agarkar’s Statement and What It Confirms
Agarkar was deliberate about not committing to a timeline. At the June 6 press conference in Mumbai, he noted the injury was less than a week old and that he hadn’t received a confirmed update from the physio. His clearest remark was that Kohli looks like he might be fit for the England one-day series, not that he will be, and not by when.
Kohli batted through visible discomfort to score 75 not out off 42 balls on May 31, steering RCB to a successful chase and their second consecutive IPL title. What looked like cramps in the ground was confirmed days later as a hamstring injury. Kohli now plays only ODIs for India, having retired from T20Is and Tests, so every ODI assignment carries more weight than it would for a player across formats. He’s been formally withdrawn from the Afghanistan squad, with the England series starting July 14 now the logical next target and the implicit deadline for his recovery.
Jaiswal’s ODI Numbers Already Make the Case
In four ODIs, Jaiswal has scored 171 runs at an average of 57. The centrepiece is his 116 not out off 121 balls at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam on December 6, 2025, an ODI debut century that sealed a 2-1 series win over South Africa. He hit 12 fours and two sixes, opened alongside Rohit Sharma in a 155-run partnership, and was still there when India chased 271 with more than 10 overs in hand.
That innings made him only the sixth Indian batter to score hundreds in all three formats, joining Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, and Suresh Raina. His most recent ODI appearance came against New Zealand in January 2026. A 57 average from four matches, anchored by a match-winning debut hundred, isn’t a tentative beginning; it’s a player who has already demonstrated he belongs at this level before this opportunity even arose.
Kohli Injury: Yashasvi Jaiswal’s India ODI Squad Afghanistan 2026 Spot
The Afghanistan series runs across three matches: June 13 in Dharamsala, June 17 in Lucknow, and June 20 in Chennai. India’s original squad, announced by the BCCI on May 19, had Kohli at number three behind Gill and Rohit Sharma. Jaiswal steps into that top-order slot, though no confirmed batting position has been communicated ahead of the first match in Dharamsala.
The selectors are actively reshaping India’s ODI combinations ahead of the 2027 World Cup in South Africa. Agarkar has spoken publicly about managing roles around Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and others as part of a deliberate longer-term strategy. Runs in these three matches go directly onto Jaiswal’s ODI record at the precise moment the squad for England is being finalised. Afghanistan isn’t India’s stiffest challenge, but three composed innings under genuine selection scrutiny carry a different kind of weight to a warm-up appearance. The context makes them count.
The England Series Is Where It Gets Decided
Kohli’s recent ODI numbers make clear what Jaiswal is effectively being measured against. In the New Zealand series in January 2026, Kohli scored 240 runs at an average of 80, including his 54th ODI century in the third match in Indore and 93 in the first. In IPL 2026, he topped RCB’s batting charts with 675 runs from 16 innings, averaging 56.25 with a strike rate of 165.84, with one century and five half-centuries. That’s not a player whose place is under discussion in ordinary circumstances; it’s a player who got injured.
If Kohli is fit by July 14, he returns, and the question resolves itself. If recovery runs longer, the selectors face a harder call: bring him back mid-series or let Jaiswal hold the position he earned. Three strong innings against Afghanistan won’t displace a fit Kohli, but they’ll ensure the conversation around the Kohli injury, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and India’s ODI squad Afghanistan 2026 selection cannot be settled with a straight swap.